The present invention relates to a container for receiving fuel from a fuel outlet of an aircraft, which container comprises means of attachment for effecting a detachable, liquid-tight coupling with the fuel outlet.
It is a known fact that some aircraft, such as the F-16, eject fuel via a fuel outlet after the aircraft engine has been turned off. The fuel outlet is positioned at the bottom of the aircraft and opens into the environment. To prevent fuel from the fuel outlet from falling onto the ground and finding its way into the environment, the ground crew places a receptacle on the ground under the fuel outlet of the aircraft before the engine of the aircraft is turned off. Subsequently, the ground crew signals to the pilot of the aircraft that he can turn off the engine of the aircraft. The fuel falls from the outlet into the receptacle, which is subsequently removed by the ground crew.
A drawback of this method is that there is a risk that not all the fuel will land in the receptacle and that fuel may be spilled on the ground. It is difficult for the ground crew to determine the correct position for the receptacle, in particular in situations in which the wind may blow the falling liquid away from the receptacle. Furthermore, the wind may blow away drops of fuel, even if the main jet of the fuel does fall into the receptacle. In addition, the unprotected and combustible fuel may be exposed to the environment while falling and while present in the receptacle. Furthermore, there is a risk of the ground crew unintentionally being soiled by aircraft fuel. In practice this often leads to the ground crew “forgetting” (i.e., intentionally failing) to place the receptacle under the aircraft, thus burdening the environment.
Furthermore, a container is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,055,217, which discloses a device for receiving and containing liquid from a wing fuel tank of aircraft. In the coupled condition, the container is in line with the fuel outlet, which extends into the fuel tank with one end. To allow fuel to flow from the fuel tank into the container, the end extended into the fuel tank must be withdrawn to below the liquid level in the fuel tank.
A drawback of such a container is the fact that the container projects relatively far from the fuel outlet when the container is coupled to the fuel outlet. Moreover, in the case of combat aircraft, such as an F-16, a lack of space makes it very difficult (if not completely impossible) to couple the container to the fuel outlet when ammunition is present under the wings.